"Odysseus thinking about Penelope while on Calypso's island" *shriek* - you do know that Penelope's Song by Loreena McKennitt always makes me think of Rose and the Doctor, right?
There like a bird I‘d fly
High through the air
Reaching for the sun’s full rays
Only to find you there

And in the night when our dreams are still
Or when the wind calls free
I’ll keep your heart with mine
Till you come to me

Except that, as you say she's no Penelope. :) But that they are constantly in each other's minds and hearts...until they are reunited...hee!

And I love the sense of this story. I get the feeling that just as Rose is pulling her literal boots on at the end, she's pulling on her figurative boots, too, to start - indeed has started - her journey to find the Doctor (holistic though it may be). Her wanderings aren't aimless, but she's not rushing herself; she's completely sure of herself - that, given time, she and the Doctor will be reunited. And so they shall. *grins*

and re: the ficlet - you take all the time you need. sometimes it's nice to have a deadline, but you rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles. ;)